Duet
by sydneyisgrumpy
Summary: Hatori hears rumors about Shigure sleeping with Ren- what else can he do but confront the canine about it?
**Shaking**. He was _shaking_. Every inch of his body was _hot_ \- fiery, and the skin pinkened to mirror the _bubbling_ rage just under his skin. This was something the dragon had **_never_ ** experienced in his twenty-four years of life- admittedly, he wasn't the most _expressive_ man, or violent... But in this very moment, he felt volatile enough to **snap a table in two**.

 _Shigure, how **could** you?_

Hatori had _heard_ the rumors, the whispers and murmurs among the young maids that tended to the zodiac members on the estate. _It **couldn't** be true_ , Hatori thought. Shigure was _compulsive and vindictive_ , sure, but **this**... This was something entirely out of his league. He _loved_ Akito, Hatori _knew_ he did- _so why would he...?_

" ** _Shigure_** ," Hatori snapped, standing in the doorway of Shigure's home on the estate grounds. His things were already beginning to be packed away, messily thrown into cardboard boxes and strewn about across the floor. Even so, the dog remained in the center of the chaos, his expression something of anger ( _or was it sorrow?_ ) before it twisted into a cheeky grin upon laying eyes on his special, little _visitor_. Shigure's facade was nothing if not _consistent_.

"Hey, Ha'ri," Shigure grinned, slipping his elbow onto the kotatsu and his chin into his palm. "Couldn't **_resist_ ** me for too long, could you?"

"Cut it _out_ ," the dragon snapped, his tone as sharp as a _blade_ , silver and **venomous**. It was _foreign_ on his tongue, Hatori often spoke in a quiet monotone- it was _Shigure_ whose timbre could creep into this terrifying tone. **_Not Hatori_**. "Just... Just _stop_ , Shigure. You know why I'm here. You know... You had to know that I would find out. _How could you...?_ "

"How could I **_what_**?" Shigure spat, jerking his hand away from his chin, his previously jovial tone now just as _vicious_ as Hatori's had been.

It caught the dragon off-guard, he had expected more **resistance** , but Shigure let his mask drop in the blink of an eye- it was _jarring_.

"How could I _finally_ put my foot down? How could I finally call that **_petulant little brat_** out on his abuse and give him a taste of his own medicine? Is that what you're referring to, Hatori? Of course, I **knew** the news would eventually trickle down to you. Did you take me as a man who would be _frightened_ of the consequences of sleeping with the object of my obsession's own **_mother_**? Ha! You're _daft_ , Ha'ri, but surely, you're not **_that_ ** foolish."

Hatori took note that the canine's darkened orbs were _ablaze_ , flickering and smoldering with emotions that swirled together and were otherwise _indistinguishable_. _Rage, regret, satisfaction, fear_... All were found there, in the sprawling abyss that was Shigure's dark brown eyes, and it was **terrifying** \- this _wasn't_ him. This wasn't the _Shigure_ that Hatori had grown up with.

 **Something had snapped**.

"You... You really did it, then? You slept with Ren?" Hatori breathed, his tone no louder than the flap of a butterfly's wings. It was _hoarse_ , his throat dry and burning with bile at the _**repulsive** _ notion. Yes, Ren had been a tad bit too _touchy_ with him in the past as well, but Hatori always _halted_ her advances. Why didn't Shigure follow suit? Did he truly wish to harm Akito _that_ badly...?

Not even their broken, little God deserved **this** level of torture and manipulation.

"Of course I did," Shigure sighed, seemingly growing _exhausted_ with Hatori's hot and cold attitude. Fishing around in one of the boxes, the mutt pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. It wasn't long before one was lit between his fingers. "Don't think of me as a _selfish_ man, Ha'ri. She... Akito... No, **_he_ ** needed to be punished. His abuse has become too much, he is _miserable_. Akito **took** your left eye from you, Hatori- _has it even healed_?"

Reflexively, Hatori reached up to touch the aforementioned eye, his left- which was all but _useless_ now. Hatori had hope by now that the vision in it would return, but it had been **_exactly_ ** three months since the Kana-incident, and no such luck. In all truth, the pain in his chest, the pain in his heart was **insurmountable**... Sure, his eye _bothered_ him from time to time, but that paled in comparison to the _heartbreak_.

But... How could Shigure say he **wasn't** selfless? Did he think such an act was a form of _revenge_ for Akito's rejection of him, revenge for Hatori losing the love of his life, along with the vision in his eye? Revenge for their **_pride_**?

"You... You **_cannot_ ** pin this on me, Shigure. I would **never** ask you to- I **_never_ ** blamed Akito for that, it was my own fault. I was _selfish_ , and I was blinded. It was Akito who gave me the wake up call, she blinded me to show me **true** blindness, not the blindness I felt by being in love with-"

"God, _will you ever stop?_ I thought **I** was the dog of the zodiac, but you always _roll over_ for her the second she snaps her fingers," Shigure spat, no longer attempting to use the pronouns Ren demanded Akito to use. Who _cared_? It was only **them** here, they both knew the _truth_ of Akito's gender. "You're like an obedient, loyal _lap dog_. All bark and **no** bite. ...But you'll _**never** _ bite the hand that feeds you, right? You're _less than a man_ , Hatori. You're **_pathetic_**. If you won't get angry, then **I** will. I'm sick of _it_ , and I'm sick of _you_."

 _Sick of me?_

Taken aback, Hatori blinked **_hard_** , the smoke wafting and billowing around Shigure giving his expression an air of _mystery_. It was hard to see him, and not just because Hatori was adjusting to using only his good eye. His features were lax, _unreadable_...

 _Utterly terrifying_.

"How can you **_say_ ** that to me?" Hatori murmured, as fragile as glass and _twice_ as transparent. Taking a step closer towards the dog, Hatori slowly got down onto his knees in the seiza position next to the kotatsu. "Have you any concept as to why I am **_upset_ ** Shigure? Do you understand what it is I am **angry** about?"

This inquiry left Shigure, for once, _speechless_.

As if prompted by the silence, Hatori continued. "Shigure, I... I _know_ what Akito has ordered. I know _why_ you are packing your things. I know you've been **_exiled_**. ...And try as you might, I know it _hurts_ you. I know you're _scared_. I am... I am **angry** , Shigure, because... Now, _you're leaving me too_."

Hatori allowed himself a pregnant pause here, to sharply inhale and collect himself. It wasn't his _forte_ to express his feelings, but these emotions were damned near _bursting_ out from his chest. He couldn't lie to the canine, **not now**.

"Just like Kana, someone I _care_ about is being _taken_ from me. You and I have spent nearly twenty-five years together, living just down the street from one another. What am I _supposed_ to do now, Shigure? Where am I _supposed_ to go when I need a smoke and a drink? Where am I supposed to go when I feel **lonely**? Or sad? When I need to just _talk things out_ , or want someone to take my mind off the _pain_? I don't- I'm not even sure where you're **_going_**. ...And Akito doesn't allow me to leave the estate grounds often. When will I see you? How could you... How could you act so _recklessly_ without thinking about those who care about you? You are not throwing this house aside, you're throwing **_me_ ** aside, Shigure. You made a choice, and it _wasn't_ **me** you chose, or the companionship we've shared."

Of course, this revelation left Hatori feeling spent and exhausted, his elbows now on the table and his face hidden in his hands. Was he _crying_? Hatori didn't know, nor did he _**care**_. His best friend was leaving him behind- just months after having lost the woman he loved so dearly. This felt like a betrayal of the highest degree. Shigure was being granted freedom, the one thing the dragon craved so desperately. Hatori was **angry** , but more than anything, he was **_scared_**.

 _I don't want to be **alone** again_.

It had been **_Shigure_ ** who helped nurse Hatori back to health; it was _him_ who changed each bloodied bandage and kept Hatori's spirits up. Even when Hatori pushed him away and _demanded_ to be left alone, Shigure remained steadfast by his hosptial bed, **refusing** to leave. Shigure had always been _important_ to the dragon, of course, they had been together since **birth** \- but after that incident, Hatori had become _reliant_ on the canine, more than he ever cared to admit.

 _Shigure_...

"I'm **not** leaving you." The words startled the dragon out of his ' _cave_ ,' causing him to look up from his hands. Shigure was standing over him, the cigarette now _absent_ from his lips. Hatori glanced away, angular eyes glaring over towards his left- **_anywhere but at Shigure_**.

"Did you hear me?" Shigure asked, the question rhetorical as he knelt down next to the man he had called his _best friend_ for over two decades. His heart felt as if it had been ripped in **half** ; Akito could _yell_ until the sun went down, but the ever so slightest waver in Hatori's tone cut Shigure down to size. He had _**never** _ seen Hatori like this; not until Kana, and... Well, _now_. Shigure could **take** quite a bit, but this was something he couldn't bear. Hatori had always played as the strong, silent one... Now, here he was, crumbling _sand_ like through his fingers.

"I said, _**I'm not leaving**_. Hatori, I didn't _intend_ to hurt you. I made a **mistake** , alright? I'm-... I'm going to make it up to you _**and** _ Akito. I promise. Listen, I'm _not_ like Kana. Don't **ever** compare me to her. You can't get rid of me **_that_ ** easily."

That little joke got Hatori's gaze on him, and Shigure couldn't help but smile _cheekily_. Huffing dramatically, he leaned over onto Hatori, resting his head on the dragon's shoulder.

"I'm going to come visit you, alright? I'll bring scotch, _lots of scotch_ , and your **favorite** brand of cigarettes. Maybe you could come visit _me_ , right? You _have_ to take **_some_ ** time off, Akito works you like a _dog_." Cue a little poke to Hatori's side, one of Shigure's **trademark** **moves** \- and the thing that happened to _irritate_ the stoic doctor to no end.

"I... I _suppose_ ," Hatori grumbled reluctantly, squirming away from Shigure as if they were _seven years old_ again. "I suppose I could come visit when I have a day off, **perhaps**..."

" ** _Good_** ," Shigure grinned, throwing his arms up above his head and giving a nice, long stretch to his _aching_ back. _**Hey**_ \- it wasn't _easy_ staying bent over a desk all day to write. Rising back up to his feet, he extended a hand out towards Hatori, which he was _pleased_ to see Hatori take.

"Now, are you going to help me pack all this up, or are you going to keep sitting there **_brooding_** , 'Tori?"


End file.
